Charlie J. Stephens

Charlie J. Stephens is a queer, non-binary writer from the Pacific Northwest. Born and raised in Salem, Oregon, Charlie is currently a resident of Port Orford on the southern Oregon coast where they are the owner of Sea Wolf Books & Community Writing Center. Charlie’s short fiction has appeared in Electric Literature, Best Small Fictions Anthology, New World Writing, Original Plumbing/Feminist Press, and elsewhere. Their debut novel, “A Wounded Deer Leaps Highest” was published by Torrey House Press in April 2024. It was long-listed for The Center For Fiction’s 2024 First Novel Prize, and is a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards/Ken Kesey Award for Fiction. Their new collection of short stories will be published by Buckman Publishing in early March, 2026. More at charliejstephenswriting.com.